Rocking It

So. This Mommy thing is HARD, you guys. Beyond the physical challenges of pregnancy and then functioning like a reasonable human in the midst of torture-level sleep deprivation, there is the sensory overload of being needed and yelled at and clung to and boogered on 24 hours a day.

It is very easy to focus on everything that I don’t do – my many Mommy fails:

• I do not have a full time job. As a mostly stay at home mom, I don’t offer any meaningful contribution to our household finances.
• I don’t cook. You would think that with that “stay at home mom” thing, the cooking would be my area, but no. I neither like food preparation, nor do I have a talent for it, so Adam is decidedly in charge in the kitchen.
• I frequently miss signs of my children’s illness. Like when Cole couldn’t breathe for a month. Or when Lulu puked all over McDonalds.
• This blog is my kids’ “baby book,” and yet it is frequently neglected; I haven’t done a “week in iPhone photos” since the beginning of January.  Lulu has hit 25 months without her 2 Year milestone post.
• Speaking of Lulu – the poor girl is clearly the second child… She doesn’t even have her own bed! She must content herself to tagging along on Cole’s activities most of the time, instead of getting her own classes/storytimes.
• And on, and on, and on…

Tonight, though, I put both kids to bed by myself.

What’s that? Not so had, you think?

• Both kids fell asleep in the car on the way home.
• I carried 60 pounds of sleeping children up the icy pathway and 3 flights of stairs into our house.
• I got 4 boots off of 4 feet, removed jackets, and wrestled limp limbs into jammies.
• I got Cole into bed with Lulu on my back, and then got her down without waking her – no easy feat!

I got to thinking… I am a little bit of a rock star, sometimes.  So instead of focussing on the many ways I FAIL, here are a few things I’m pretty good at:

• Cole has a voracious appetite for new learning. He loves story time, uses sophisticated vocabulary, and requests visits to the zoo and museum. I did that.
• My children have an incredible bond. Cole calls Lulu his lovebug, and frequently tells her how much he loves her. If you ask Lulu who her very favorite person is, she will tell you “Cole!” without any hesitation. They comfort each other when they are upset, and share in each other’s joy. Honestly? I don’t think I did that, but it makes me so happy and proud to see.
• Both of my kids are confident and polite. They communicate with strangers, purchase their own items in the store, and always use “please” and “thank you.”
• I may not have a full time job, but I have half a dozen part-time commitments – I keep the calendar and get everyone (mostly) everywhere we need to be.  And sometimes I do it with  child (or 2) on my back.

So, for the weeks months when I can’t get on here and give this space the attention it deserves, when there is puking and snow days and I feel like giving one or both of my children away… for each of those, there is a moment where I am doing something right.